Customer Service Guarantee & Mass Service Disruptions/Exemptions

The Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) is a set of performance standards that we must meet when we provide Fixed Telephony services to our Residential and Small Business customers (with up to 5 fixed telephony services).

What does the CSG cover?

The Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) Standard specifies timeframes for the connection of fixed telephony services, the repair of listed fixed telephony faults and the attendance of related appointments. Some enhanced calling features are also covered under CSG such as call waiting, call forwarding, customer controlled call barring, calling number display and blocking.

The Customer Service Guarantee doesn't apply to:

Data products (e.g. internet services)

Customer equipment or cabling

Mobile services

Satellite services

customers who have greater than 5 standard telephone services

TV services (such as Yes TV by Fetch)

What happens if the CSG is not met?

The CSG Standard requires us to provide you with financial compensation when these standards are not met, unless specific exemption criteria apply.

How do I know when the CSG doesn't apply?

Here are some situations when you wouldn’t be covered by the CSG:

While waiting for your regular service to be connected or repaired you accept an alternative temporary service that’s been offered to you

If you decline the alternative temporary service that’s been offered while waiting for your regular service to be connected or repaired

Where delays are due to circumstances outside our control and a Mass Service Disruption has been declared for services in your area

When you’ve requested to port or transfer your Standard Telephone Service from another carriage service provider that you’re connected with over to us. This would fall under the regular timeframes of porting your service

If you can activate the Enhanced Call Handling Features from your telephone handset or equipment

If we have evidence to support that you might be unable or unwilling to pay for connection and use of the service or if you were disconnected for non-payment of a charge and there’s been no resolution or agreement reached for the matter

If we need to do maintenance or upgrades to a facility and have provided notice that we need to withdraw your service(s)

If you’ve not accepted an appointment offered by us

If you miss an appointment that’s related to the connection or repair or fail to keep an appointment with us without giving us at least 24 hours’ notice

If you refuse our staff or contractor reasonable access to your premises.

Do I need to apply for CSG compensation?

If you're eligible for CSG, it will be applied automatically to your bill as a credit once the issue has been resolved. It's important to note that sometimes CSG assessments can take up to 16 weeks to be completed.

Compensation can only be applied after the issue has been resolved and an assessment has determined that CSG compensation is payable. If, after this time, you feel that you may be eligible for CSG compensation and it hasn't been applied or an exemption has been declared, then please contact us on 133 937.

When do exemptions apply?

Under specific circumstances, we can claim exemptions from the CSG Standard. This most often occurs when our capacity to meet the CSG Standard for a large number of services is effected by circumstances beyond our control, such as extreme weather conditions. In such circumstances Optus may claim a Mass Service Disruption.

How do I know if a mass exemption applies to my area?

Learn more...

The Australian Communications & Media Authority website (ACMA) provides detailed information on what services are covered by the CSG, time frames for services (eg. repairing a service difficulty) and what compensation is available.

To find out more about CSG or to read the CSG Standard, please visit the ACMA website.

See here for info on Disasters, Emergency Alerts & Mass Service Disruptions.

Outages

You can visit our service & network status page to check for any known outages or service disruptions to our Mobile, Broadband and Fixed Phone networks in your local area.

Just enter your city/suburb name to stay up-to-date on any planned repairs, maintenance or outages in your area.